We Will Never Be The Same
by Lady in the Blue Dress
Summary: When Harry doesn't want her, and Ron is not Ron anymore, what does she do? She's by herself, for the most part. None of them are who they used be, and none of them can ever go back to the way they were. No refernce to HBP. HGDM.
1. Bring Up the Past

They sat at the breakfast table, much like they had for the past six years. Ron was shoveling food into his mouth as if his stomach was a bottomless pit. Thankfully, in the last couple of years he learned to at least swallow before talking. Harry was eating quietly. Staring straight at his plate, trying not to drawl any unnecessary attention from any unwanted persons. His appetite had finally returned last year. The affects of Sirius' death were slowly fading, but everyone knew they would never go away. The sadness was still in his eyes. Hermione wasn't eating, talking, or even studying. She was staring at Harry.

Since first year Hermione always had a crush on Harry. No one knew, and as far as Hermione was concerned it was going to stay that way. As the years continued she grew to love the skinny, dark haired boy that only considered her a sister. She knew if she ever told him it would completely destroy their friendship and everything they had. Hermione knew she needed to be content with that, but as time worn on she was getting uncontrollably annoyed with 'just being friends'.

Hermione had won the title of Head Girl. It was a perk that she was quite enjoying. A large comfortable room all to herself, her bathroom was larger than the ones the Prefects used, a common room that was quiet for studying, and unrestricted use of the library. There was one downfall to being Head Girl. Draco Malfoy was Head Boy. He completely destroyed all of Hermione's plans for seventh year. Harry should have been Head Boy. Harry should have been the one to spend all that time with her.

But Draco was Head Boy.

Living with Malfoy wasn't that bad. Since Dumbledore's defeat of Voldemort the hostilities had slowed down for the most part. Malfoy in all sense has become almost nice. He and Harry and Ron still fought over stupid things, such as quidditich, but Malfoy and Hermione were civil. True they had only been there for a week, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Hermione pushed her plate away, gathered her things and stood to leave.

"You didn't eat anything," Ron stated with concern.

Hermione shrugged, "I wasn't that hungry, I'll make up for it at lunch. I'll see you guys in class." With that she picked up the last of her books and walked away.

"Be careful." Was all Harry said.

Hermione huffed and kept walking. She was truly aggravated. She that Harry was pretty much drooling over Cho. Hermione was incredibly pissed that he never noticed her. She wasn't pretty like Cho, but she wasn't a toad either. She checked her watch and she still had an hour before class. Deciding that she could use this time to prepare for class a little more, she made her way to the library.

As she approached the entrance she met Malfoy. He opened the door, she waited for him to walk past her and go in, like her always did. But he didn't. Instead, he motioned for her to go ahead. She looked at him in shock.

"You're not going to close the door on me, are you?"

He smiled, "Only if you want me to."

As she walked past him she whispered a meek, "Thank you." Hermione always felt uncomfortable around him, even more so when she was alone. But he was different from last year, everyone was.

Hermione made her way to the back and sat on one of the windowsill. She thought back to this summer. She remembered the final battle, the court hearings, the executions, and the funerals. Slowly, she pulled out her wallet. Flipping through the pictured, she stopped at the one of Ginny. Tears began to form in her eyes. The images of Ginny lying broken on the floor, with blood coming from her mouth flooded Hermione's mind. She remembered the blood spilling out on the floor underneath her.

Now, tears were freely flowing. Hermione remembered how cold she had felt when she found Ginny's body. It should have been a happy, carefree day. They were all at Diagon Alley. Ginny and Hermione were in the bookstore. She recalled Ginny telling her she had to go to the ladies room, but Hermione was too absorbed in her search for new books to go with her. After about thirty minutes Hermione realized that Ginny wasn't anywhere to be found. Deciding that she probably stopped to talk to someone or look at something, Hermione went to the lavatory looking for her.

She would never forget that day. She would never forget the look on Ron's face when she told him what happened. She couldn't forget how angry Ron and Harry were because she wouldn't let them see the body. And the funeral was horrible. Mrs. Weasley was a wreck, as were the rest of the Weasley's, but Mrs. Weasley was the worst.

From that day, June 10th, Dumbledore decided enough was enough. It was time to take the offensive. Dumbledore, with the Ministry's approval, went after every known Death Eater and every thought to be Death Eater. Slowly, they were all captured, save a few. A little over a month ago Dumbledore discover Voldemort's location. It didn't take long for him to take action; it took him even less time to make Voldemort a thing of the past. In the end, they discovered it was Bellatrix that stabbed Ginny. In a way the closer helped, but that only helped so much.

The bell on her watch chimed letting her know that she had ten minutes to get to Potions. She wiped her eyes quickly and picked her things. She quickly stopped at the bathroom to splash water on her face. The she hurried off to the dungeons. She made it to class before Harry or Ron; she hoped they weren't still eating. Snape would deduct so many points if they were late.

As if they were reading her mind they walked into class, just in time. Ron sat on one side of her and Harry on the other. She took a glance at Ron. He was doing really well the past month. But like Harry he would never be the same carefree kid he used to be.

None of them would be.

They were sitting quietly at their table. Hermione was reading the text that she had meant to read in the library, but forgot about. She was hoping Snape wouldn't ask too many questions because she was unprepared. Ron and Harry were talking across her about Quidditch. Snape came strolling into the classroom with a different air than usual. He didn't seem angry or upset, he almost seemed happy.

"Shut it!" See, almost happy. "Ladies and gentlemen today we will be working on the Polyjuice Potion." The Golden Trio snapped their heads to attention almost immediately. All three had the same memory running through their heads. Hermione did well in hiding her smile and covering her laughter, but the other two didn't have the same kind of control.

"Weasley, Potter is there something you'd like to share?"

A collective, "No sir."

"Ten points from Gryffindor, now please be quiet."

Hermione shook her head. Snape was such a snarky bastard it was almost sickening. Knowingly, Hermione kept her thoughts to herself. She took notes as long as possible, but eventually she got bored with it. Soon after Snape stopped lecturing. He announced that they would get to pick their own lab partners, no groups of three. Hermione turned to Harry. But before she could ask, Snape told them it had to be with a member of the opposite house. No one moved.

Slytherin and Gryffindor didn't get along, everyone and their mother knows that. Every one remained absolutely still in their seats, waiting for someone else to make the first move. It never came.

"Fine, I'll make the pairs." The class groaned, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Snape. He called of the names of students. Hermione and Harry's names were never called. They looked at each other confused.

"Granger, Potter. You two are left over in Gryffindor. So you'll be working together." Hermione was smiling from ear to ear. She turned to Ron and rubbed his back in a comforting way. We he heard he was paired with Malfoy he slammed his head on the desk. She continued to comfort him, silently praying nothing would go wrong.

"Let's go, Weasley. Some needs to do the work here." Malfoy said.

"What don't want to ruin your manicure?" Harry shot back. He stood as if he was going to fight. Hermione stood, pushing him back into his seat, "It's not worth it." She whispered in his ear. Ron stood and walked over to where Malfoy was sitting. After Ginny's death, he really did try to avoid all confrontations, but not always. Harry, however, was ready to fight at the drop of dime. Hermione tried her best to keep them both out of trouble. But you never know what's going to happen.


	2. I Want the Truth, Even if it Hurts

Chapter 2: I Want the Truth, Even if it Hurts

Disclaimer: I forgot this last chapter, I don't own any of the copyrighted characters.

Potions had been going well. Hermione and Harry got their potion finished in half the time of the rest of the class. They looked around. Everyone was either arguing or glaring at one another. They got off really lucky with being paired together. They started talking about the summer and the stuff they had done. Neither mentioned the loss or the pain, but in the back of their mind they were thinking about it.

Things seemed to be going fine until Malfoy and Ron started going at it.

"You are such a prick. You fucking asshole!" Ron had jumped from his seat and raised his fist. His eyes were livid and glaring at Malfoy. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then they turned to Snape who had an amused smile on his face. Both knew this wasn't going to end well for anyone, especially Ron.

"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" He stood and faced Ron. His body language telling everyone he was ready to fight.

"You're wrong! You're a self-righteous lying ferret." His face was turning red with every second that passed. Hermione took a glance at Snape. He has his feet propped up on the desk and was watching with curiosity just like the rest of the class. Silently, Hermione prayed it would all just stop and not go any further. But this is Ron and Malfoy; this could never just go away. Malfoy suddenly made eye contact with her, smirked, then whispered something that only Ron could hear. Ron turned and looked at her then Harry.

"You fucking bastard!" He hit Malfoy square in the jaw. Malfoy had a quick reaction and socked Ron back. They started going at it. Hermione groaned as she saw Snape still just sitting there. She hated to say it, but Malfoy was taller, bigger and looked stronger. She knew Ron would wind up hurt. Taking quick action she ran over to Ron and grabbed his arm. She tried to pull him back but he shrugged her off. She pushed her way in front of him. When Malfoy saw her in the middle he immediately moved away. Ron however, didn't have that much control. He tried to hit Draco again. His fist connected with Hermione's lip.

Hermione stumbled backward. Malfoy caught her before she fell. Ron immediately went to help her. Snape, finally, dispersed the crowd that had formed around them. Harry was just shaking his head in annoyance. Ron went to take Hermione out of Malfoy's hands, but she smacked his hands away. She attempted to walk away from both of them. As she began to walk she was hit with a dizzy spell. Once again Malfoy caught her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Fine."

"Liar."

"Instigator!" She yelled at him.

"Draco, please escort Granger to the hospital wing. Get yourself cleaned up as well. Fifty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. Ten points awarded to Ms. Granger. " Snape smirked. The rest of the class sat in stunned silence. "Mr. Weasley I'll see you tonight in detention." Ron groaned.

Harry walked over to Hermione to see if she was all right. For once, she didn't want Harry around to save her. At this moment, she didn't want him to see her. Whenever she really needed some one to save her, he was never there. She assured him she was fine and then walked out of the classroom.

"Granger, wait." She ignored him and continued walking. He followed her anyway.

"I can make it to the Hospital Wing with out assistance. Thank you, now go away."

"Then why are you walking out the opposite way?"

She frowned, "Because I have no intention of going to the Hospital Wing. Happy?" She walked to their common room and then into the bathroom. Malfoy followed but stopped at the door. He leaned on the doorframe and watched her. Methodically, she took the supplies she needed from her cabinet. She prepared everything she in the order she would use it. Malfoy stared at her, he was curious as to why she had all of this stuff in their bathroom when she could always just go to the Hospital Wing. She took a washrag from the drawer and began running warm water.

Watching her intently, he began surveying the damage. Her lip was bleeding and her jaw was swollen. "You should have stayed out of it." She snorted. "You never know when to keep to yourself, do you?"

Hermione was trying to get the blood out of her blouse, and was becoming extremely frustrated. "What was I supposed to do? Watch you beat the shit out of him? Plus, I've dealt with worse." She began rummaging through the bottles in the cabinet.

"So you admit I could have beaten him?" He smirked.

"If you would have just kept your mouth shut, all of this could have been avoided.' She signed and prepared a hydrogen peroxide pad. "What did you say that made him so mad?" She began cleaning the cut on her lip.

"I told him the truth." He was still standing in the doorway.

She turned to look at him, all the while dabbing her lip with antibiotic cream. "What truth would that be?" She checked the cut in the mirror and then began throwing all her used supplies in the trash. "Come here." Now, she was taking a fresh rag from the drawer.

"Why?" He questioned with suspicion in his voice.

"Do you want your eye to swell? And dry blood is a bitch to deal with, but excuse me for trying to make up for Ron's blunder."

"Oh." Slowly, he made his way to the counter where she was standing. She patted the counter wanting him to sit. The counter was low, so by sitting on it he was actually shorter and it was easier for her to see hi face.

She took the warm rag and put it to his face. "This will sting. Maybe." She began wiping the blood from above and below his eye. "What did you say to him?" She asked quietly.

Draco snapped out of the trance he had been in. "I told him a truth he didn't want to believe." He stared straight in her hazel eyes, wanting her to ask the question he knew she was going to ask.

"And what didn't he believe?" She was cleaning the blood from his lip and nose. He flinched slightly when the rag touched his lip. "Sorry."

"I told him, you're in love with the boy who wouldn't die."

Hermione stopped. She had a look of shock on her face. Then she laughed, "That was good. That was funny." Then, she stopped laughing and whipped him with the wet rag.

"Ouch!"

With all seriousness in her voice, "Why would you say that! Even if it was true, which it's not, that's such a stupid thing for him to get upset about." She was talking to herself for the most part.

"Not if he's got a thing for you." She whipped him again. "I thought you were supposed to be fixing me, not beating me! But if you like it rough." He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive fashion.

She huffed loud huff, "I'm starting to think I should have let Ron beat the shit out of you."

"I thought you said I would have won?" She 'accidentally' poked his bruise. "You're mean."

"You've got balls saying that to me!"

"I've got balls no matter what I say to you." Hermione blushed furiously. "And I was right with what I told Weasley. You are in love with Potter. If I judge correctly, since last year, maybe before."

Hermione kept her mouth shut. She quickly bandaged his cuts. Then began cleaning up her materials.

"Nice job, Granger. Where'd you learn the fancy bandaging?"

She smiled, "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

After she washed her hands, she left Draco standing by himself. Deciding to take the rest of the day of, she laid down on the couch and closed her eyes. She started reviewing the work she had to do her classes. Scolding herself for being such a slacker so early, she remembered she forgot her books. Still feeling slightly dizzy she decided she had to go back to class. Now, she was regretting that she hadn't eaten this morning.

As she walked toward the portrait, someone knocked. Opening the door she was surprised to see Harry standing there. He held up her bag and books.

A/N: An explanation of why Hermione was getting along so well with Malfoy in the next chapter.

This will eventually become a HG/DM story, but I really don't want to rush it. I hate when they rush it and just jump on each other.

Thanks for reading…and now maybe you could review?


	3. If it's Over, Let it Go

Chapter 3: If it's Over, Let it Go

Disclaimer: They aren't my characters they aren't my names.

"I went to the hospital wing to see if you were okay. Imagine my surprise when you weren't there." She took her stuff from him with a huff. "You could have a concussion why aren't you at the Hospital Wing?"

She moved out of the doorway and motioned him inside. "I know how to take care of myself." She slammed the door shut. Malfoy came out of the bathroom looking confused and annoyed. He gave Harry a death glare and Harry returned it.

"Thanks again, Granger." She nodded and Malfoy retreated back to his room.

Harry turned to her, "Thanks for what?"

"I patched him up. No big deal."

"No big deal? He's your enemy! You hate him." Harry was getting frustrated. He ran his hand through his hair. Hermione, who normally found that action attractive, was highly annoyed.

"You're acting like I fucked him or something! _You _hate him, he's _your_ enemy. I don't care what he's done in the past. I've let it go. After this summer, I let it all go. That hate didn't solve anything. And neither does the fighting."

Harry gritted his teeth. "He's the one that got you hurt."

She sat on the couch and put her head in her hands, "Last I checked, it was Ron's fist that did this, not Malfoy's."

"So now you're blaming Ron."

"Now, you're putting words into my mouth! I never blamed Ron. I was just stating that Malfoy didn't hit me."

"No, but he started it."

"Why, because he said something to taunt Ron?" Hermione blushed remembering what Malfoy had told her. She hoped that it wouldn't be the topic of the conversation. "Ron needs to keep himself in check. This has been going on for years, Ron knows better and you should too."

"Do you know what Malfoy said to Ron?"

"Why don't you enlighten little, simple me?" She was getting fed up with this whole situation.

"He told Ron you had a thing for me."

She laughed and sarcastically pretended to be shocked. "You know what? I do have a thing for you. Hell, I've had a thing for you for a long time now. Even though it's true, it really shouldn't have caused a fucking pointless fight! We all know that!" She covered her mouth in real shock. She hadn't meant to say all of that.

"Malfoy has been taunting us for years!" Obviously, he was choosing to ignore her other comments, and that was fine for Hermione.

"We were just as cruel as he was. We've said our share of rude comments. Not to mention, I've hit him on more than a few occasions and he never retaliated. Never. So if you want to point fingers, we're all guilty."  
"You're joking, right?"

"Grow up Harry!"

"What the hell happened to you? You used to be so damn sensible!"

"Let it go. It's over, now let it go." She walked towards the door and opened it and ushered him out.

He turned back to face her, "You may be over it, but Ron and I can't." He walked away.

Quietly she whispered, "I'm over all of it." She shut the door and walked back into the common room. She checked to make sure that Malfoy was still in his room. Seeing that he was, she sauntered over to the windowsill. She quickly popped it open. As she hopped up onto the sill, she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. Before she lit it she checked to see if Malfoy was still in his room. He was. Hermione lit it and took a long drag.

'Why did I just throw away my friendship?' Deep down she knew she really hadn't done anything wrong. She also knew that she upset Harry, she knew he would tell Ron, she knew they would both be angry with her. But at this moment she really didn't care. She was tired of fighting everyone and everything that came their way. It was time for her to grow up. She knew that eventually they would get over being angry with her, they always had.

Absorbed in her own thoughts she never heard the door click. She didn't even realize Malfoy had left his room until he was standing next to her.

"You know…"Hermione jumped and dropped her cigarette onto her skirt. "Smoking is bad for you."

"Bloody hell!" She grabbed the cigarette off her skirt and shorted it. "Shit, Malfoy! I could lit myself on fire."

He laughed as she brushed away the ashes. "What, on earth, would possess Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Princess, to smoke?"

She attempted to move off the sill, but Malfoy refused to move. She tried to push him out of the way, but he adjusted his body in between her legs. Placing his hands on either side of her, making sure she couldn't move. "When do you plan on answering my question?"

"If I had a choice, never. Seeing as how I'm not really in a position to refuse. I started this summer. I got really stressed and in order to calm me down my cousin bought me a pack, and I guess now I'm addicted. Happy?" Her body was on fire. His body that close to her was making her nerve endings go crazy. She could feel her face getting red. She put her hands on his chest and once again tired to push him away.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Are you enjoying making me uncomfortable?"

He smiled, "Sort of. I mean it is in my job description."

When she looked in his eyes she was surprised that she didn't see a shred of hate or malice. The only thing she saw was amusement and laughter. This was Draco Malfoy, prince of Slytherin, and she was confused. When had he learned how to hold laughter in those steely eyes of his? "Could you please move?" He shook his head no. "Fine." She leaned back and grabbed the shorted cigarette. She lit it and blew the smoke in his face. He waved the smoke away. Still, he remained smiling. As he lifted his hand she flinched, certain he was going to slap her. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette.

"Have a light?"

She laughed and sparked her lighter. Holding towards his face allowing him to light his cigarette. After he was done he backed away from her. Her body gave a collective sigh of relief. "So I won't tell if you don't?"

He sat on the couch, "Deal."

"To think I was hiding it from you for no reason. I really thought you would have turned my ass in."

"Yeah, but I had to weigh my options. It's easier for me to just smoke around the common room instead of hiding in hallways and such. Plus, your ass is too nice to turn in." At the last comment Hermione blushed really hard.

Perched at her seat on the windowsill, she looked at her Slytherin counterpart. To say that Hermione was confused about why he was acting like this was an understatement. Right now though, she wasn't thinking about his behavior. Actually, she wasn't really thinking at all. She was openly staring at him. His dress shirt was unbuttoned revealing his black beater (muscle shirt, tank top) and his nicely built chest that it covered. His arm muscles were easily noticeable through the dress shirt. She had to admit, his body was almost flawless. As for his facial features, they were completely flawless, not a blemish on his face. His eyes, his eyes were beautiful enough to get lost in. His lips were kissable. They were full and pink.

He noticed her staring. He licked his lips in a seductive manner and she snapped out of her trance. "See something you like Granger."

Shrugging, "Maybe." She took the last drag of her cigarette. After stubbing it out she walked over to the fireplace and threw it into the fire then watched it turn to ash. When she turned around he was standing behind her. She jumped.

"Just maybe?"

"Just maybe." She had planned on just walking past him, but as usual he had other ideas. He stopped her with his arm and pushed her against the wall. In her mind, she was telling herself to be scared, but in all actuality she was excited. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, he had proven that twice today. As his lips came closer to hers, her mind was screaming at her to move, or do something. But her body just gave in.

At first it was soft and sweet. He hadn't really expected her to respond in a positive manner. Maybe a knee to the groin or a slap across the face, but the fact that she actually responded stunned him. He placed his hands softly on her hips, and flicked his tongue along her lip asking for entrance. He knew he was pushing it, but he had gotten this far, why not. She parted her lips allowing him entrance.

After battling for dominance, Draco won. Slowly he left her mouth and began traveling down her jaw to her neck. He left light kisses at first, but when Hermione let out a moan he couldn't help himself. He began sucking on her neck.

Hermione was mentally scolding herself the entire time, but she couldn't help enjoying it. She was running her hand up and down his chest and the other one was tangled in his hair. She let the moan that she had been holding. 'Damn.'

His hands had started wondering in opposite directions. His left hand began traveling upwards slowly. He wanted to give her time to move his hand if she didn't want it there. He was about to cup her chest when there knock on the door.

"Fuck." He dropped his hand back to her hips. Hermione came back to reality. She took the bandage that was on his lip all the way off. "Ouch, that hurt."

"Get over it." He went to kiss her again, when the knock on the door resounded again.

"Hermione?" They heard from outside. It was Ron. "Hermione? Are you in there?"

Hermione pushed Draco backward. "You need to go back to your room." He didn't move. "Please? He'll freak out worse than Harry. Please?"

"Fine." But instead of going directly to his room he moved his hand toward her face. She tried to move away. "Will you stop moving? Unless you want him to see the smeared lipstick." Ron knocked louder.

She stopped fidgeting and let his wipe away the lip-gloss. "Gloss." He looked at her funny. "I don't wear lipstick, it was lip-gloss." He nodded and kissed her softly. He turned and ran up the stairs to hi room. She ran to the mirror to make sure the rest of her make up wasn't messed up. She wiped her running eyeliner and fixed her lip-gloss again.

"Hermione!" Ron was yelling louder than ever.

"I'm coming. I'm coming." She opened the portrait smiling. "Feeling better?"

(A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review? Make me happy, please?)

Next Chapter: Ron and Hermione drama. Answers to the Draco questions. And any other questions you have. But I can't answer them if you don't ask them, so review!


	4. Sucker for a Sweet Talker

Chapter 4: Sucker for a Sweet Talker

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters.

Warning: Violence and attempted rape. And if you like Ron, this might not be the best story to be reading.

Ron looked at her with suspicion. "Harry just came and talked to me. He said you'd gone off the deep end."

She faked a laugh, "Nope, still on firm ground." She bounced up and down to prove her statement.

He smiled and walked into the common room, without an invitation. Hermione felt her heartbeat quicken and her body tighten. He always made her nervous. Not the good nervous, not he nervous Malfoy had made her feel just minutes ago. Whenever they were alone her skin would start to crawl. Ron was fine when her was around other people. Alone, when they were alone he was her worst nightmare. Part of her wanted to smack the cocky son of a bitch and make him turn back into her Ron. The Ron he was before Ginny's murder. She knew it wasn't his fault, he was having a hard time coping. She hoped that if she was patient enough he would snap out of it. But she knew all she could do was hope.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. She didn't want to shut the door. No, she wanted to run out it, find Harry, and strangle his skinny little neck. Of course, she knew it wasn't his fault either. He didn't know any better. Why would he? "Hermione did you hear me? I said I was sorry." She could hear the anger starting in his voice.

She shut the door, finally. Smiling, "Yes, of course. I already knew you didn't mean it." Her stomach was churning at the simple fact that she was acting so sickeningly sweet. After their third or fourth encounter, Hermione learned how she had to play his game. If she made him feel better it was so much easier. Somehow, she knew this wasn't going to be easy, no matter how sweet she pretend to be.

She sat down on the couch next to where Ron was standing. "Are you feeling any better? I mean Snape must have given you a real headache after class." She was trying really hard to keep herself giggly and happy.

"I feel fine." He reached down and ran his thumb across her jaw line. "Now, that I know you're okay." He sat down next to her and placed his hand on her thigh. "What is all of this crap Malfoy and Harry have been talking about."

She didn't know what happened, but something in her head snapped. "Ron you need to stop." She removed her hand from her leg. "I don't belong to you. You're like a brother to me, and that's all. Nothing more." She was exasperated. There was no other way to go about this. Sure, Ron was a sucker for a sweet talker, but she wasn't a sweet talker for anyone. Not anymore. He could hit her, kick her, and beat the living shit out of her. She didn't care anymore, she was tired of playing this ridiculous game. Secretly, she was hoping Malfoy would walk down the steps and interrupt before Ron could react.

Suddenly, she was jerked upward. Ron had grabbed a handful of her hair. She let out a tiny whimper but that was all. Screaming would only make him angrier and make this worse for her. With more force than she thought he was capable of he threw her against the wall across from the couch. Her head hit the wall and the room was now spinning. Ron was yelling at her, but she couldn't really hear what he was saying.

"Why do you have to make this so damn hard?" He slapped her. "You couldn't realize that we would have been great together!" He slammed her head into the wall with every word. Silent tears were streaming down her face. After a few seconds, that felt like hours to Hermione, he stopped shaking her. Ever so sweetly he began wiping away the tears that were on her cheeks. "You need to see how great we are together."

When he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek she flinched. His response was a backhand across the face. "You have to knock it off and I promise I won't hurt you." The only response she could give him was a slight nod of her head. It hurt so much, but she had to keep herself in check. As he began kissing her she detached her mind from her body. The last time this happened it hurt so much. She wasn't willing to go through it again, but as it stood she had little choice in the matter. The only thing that was running through her head right now was how much she would kill to back four months. Her tears were falling uncontrollably as his hands roamed all over her body. His mouth was sucking on her ear. Suddenly, he stopped.

"What the hell is that?" Slowly, she raised her hand to the spot on her neck that Ron was pointing to.

"I…I don't know." Her mind kicked into over gear. What the hell is he talking about? Potions, fight, bathroom, Harry, Malfoy. Malfoy! Ron would kill her, literally, if he found out.

"Don't you lie to me! Don't you dare lie to me!"

"I honestly haven't a clue." Grabbing her by the throat her slammed her against the wall, again.

"Stop lying, you fucking whore. So is better than me? Did you have fun fucking Harry while I was being tortured!" As if he had room to complain about being tortured. There he stood holding the girl he, supposedly, loved by the throat treating her like some sort of punching bag.

"It wasn't Harry I swear!" He tightened the grip on her throat. She let out the scream the she had been holding in. "Please, let go!" It was hoarse due to the lack of air. Without warning he dropped her. She couldn't lift her had. The entire time her eyes were closed with pain she heard a struggle, and then, "I thought earlier was an accident. Maybe, I was wrong."

Hermione opened her eyes to see Malfoy holding Ron by the collar of his shirt. Not good, not good at all. Blood was dripping steadily from her noise and mouth. With as much confidence as she could collect she said, "Malfoy, let him go." The response she received was a look of pure confusion. "This isn't your business. Let him go."

Without questioning her he let go of Ron. By now Hermione was on her feet, the wall aiding her balance. Ron went to lunge at Malfoy. "Ron, I need help. Could you give me a hand?"

Ron gave Malfoy a glare and went to help Hermione.

"I don't want him in here anymore."

"That's not your choice." Ron was holding Hermione by the arm. His blood was boiling. It was as if the past 15 minutes had never happened. In his mind, they hadn't.

"Malfoy, fine." She turned to Ron. "Ron, I need to keep peace with him for the rest of the year. Please?"

They walked towards the door. Ron made an attempt to wipe the blood away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Hermione smacked his hand away.

"Just go."

As she slammed the door he tried to plead again. With the door between Ron and her, she felt safe. With Malfoy in the room, strangely, she felt safe. Normally, she would have sat down and cried, but _he_ was still in the room. She took a deep breath and waited for the room to stop spinning. Malfoy was staring at her with a look a concern on his face.

"What? Happy to see the Mudblood get what she deserves?" She rushed past him to the bathroom. She hated this part. Cleaning the bruises and cuts and healing the bones was almost as bad as the beating. And this was the second time she had to clean herself up. Her breathing was shallow and her heart was racing. Right now all she cared about was making sure Malfoy didn't see her cry.

Malfoy had followed her into the bathroom again. "He's done it before, hasn't he? And you knew he would do it again, that's why you have all this stuff."

"Go away." She said it with little force. Her body was too tired to fight. Not to mention her attempts in cleaning her cuts were failing miserably. Her hands were shaking terribly.

"Here." He took the towel from her. She slapped him.

"I am not some helpless little girl, Malfoy. I've done this before and I can do it now. I don't know what the fuck you think your doing, but I'm not some fucking charity case to help you regain your popularity!" That was it, the dam broke and her tears fell. Instead of lashing out or yelling back, he lifted her up and sat her on the counter and started wiping the blood and tears away. They struggled for awhile, but Hermione finally caved, not wanting to piss another man, who had the power to beat her, off.

After a few moments of silence, "This is your fault, you know."

He looked at her shocked. He continued cleaning her up. Whispering a few healing charms and bruise fading spells. "How so?"

"First off, if you would have kept your mouth shut about Harry, he would have never snapped. He was fine for two weeks. I was foolishly thinking it was over and he was all better, but nope. You could have minded your own business for once. And then, he saw this." She pointed to the hickey he had given her. "He thought me and Harry had a make out session."

"What would have done if he had know it was me?"

"He would have granted your wish."

"What wish?"

"That this mudblood was dead and buried." There was brief silence. When she realized that he had finished cleaning her up she stood to leave. He looked at her with a blank stare. What could he possibly say to prove her wrong? He didn't hate her anymore than he hated his mother. "Thank you, Malfoy. I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier."

With that she fled to her room.

A/N: My request is that you read and review. Why? Because I'm self-conscience and need to know what others think of me.

Next Chapter: Umm…not too sure yet. Maybe a sex, but don't count on it. I hate rushing the DM/HG relationship, because it seems unrealistic. They'll definitely get closer next chapter. And what does Hermione do about Ron?


	5. A Boy, A Man, A Monster

Chapter 5: A Boy, A Man, A Monster

Disclaimer: It utterly annoys me to do this. Everyone here _knows_ I don't own the characters. But anyway, I don't own any of the characters, just the plot.

That wasn't what he planned on happening. Actually, he really hadn't planned anything. Malfoy thought that he was going to walk in on Hermione and Weasley screwing each other. He never in his right mind thought he would have ever seen Weasley hit a girl, let alone Granger. Then again he never thought a lot of things that happened would happen. He never thought he kiss Granger (though he didn't mind it), he never thought his father would have gotten killed, and he sure as hell, never thought he'd ever see Voldemort fall. The world was just full of surprises.

He checked his watch. It was close to three by now. The day had past by in what seemed to be a matter of minutes. He had already missed two classes, well two and a half if you include potions, and lunch. With one class left what was the point of even attempting it. He headed towards his bedroom. He threw the dirty towel he was holding into the laundry basket as he left throw the door connected to his room.

Since the beginning of the summer Draco had been praying for his last year to be drama free. He quickly figured out that living with the Gryffindor Queen was going to put a damper on that. He really wanted to just wanted to start over. He tried his best to be nice, well, except to Potter and Weasley just because they're asshole. Weasley was ahead of Potter now a days though. The difference between the Golden Duo and Granger was that Hermione seemed to have let old grudges fall, while Weasley and Potter held onto the past. Granger had no problem helping a Slytherin in the hallway or saying excuse me to them. Weasley and Potter still acted like Slytherin was the enemy, when there were no enemies.

Harry and Ron still fought with Draco incessantly. They always bickered and attacked each other. Hermione tried to avoid Draco as much as possible. If she could avoid being in the same room with him, she would. And if she couldn't, she just tried not to talk to him. The only time she talked to him was when he couldn't be avoided. Like earlier today, she couldn't avoid him. Draco couldn't stop himself from smirking at the thought of earlier today.

The way she tasted and the way she felt against him was like a slice of heaven to him. The fact that she didn't resist added to his pleasure. He licked his lips, he could still taste her, and he still wanted her.

Draco was standing at the window in his room looking down at the lake. Technically, it was still summer. It wasn't too warm though. The weather was beautiful and the sky was brilliant. Draco felt a cold draft fall over him. It was the draft of jealousy. As he stared down at the lake he saw couples sitting, talking, kissing, and just being generally happier than he was. That's something that Draco had been longing for, for quite awhile. Sure he was still young and had plenty of time, but he had all been done with being a player. He wanted something he could be stable with.

But as it stood, he could barely get a girl to look at him. With the summer's events everyone knew who he was even worse than before. No girl would look at him without disgust in her eyes. He still had his good looks and charm, but that was ruined with reputation. As much as this was destroying his sex life, Draco really didn't mind not having the Ministry breathing down his back 24/7.

Draco closed his curtains and walked away from the window. His room was now completely dark. He lit a few candles carefully, as to not burn himself. Then sat down at his desk to hopefully complete the assignments that had been sent to him via owl. For a few minutes he just stared at the mound of books. He knew he would never be able to concentrate long enough to finish any work. His mind was full of too many distractions. Okay, it was mostly Granger, but you know how that goes.

She was the first girl since the end of last year that Draco had had any physical action with. Now, his body and mind was begging for more. Anything.

He blew out the candle that sat on the desk before him. He thought it would be better to get out of the Heads' Tower. He needed to straighten out his thoughts. The only person that could help him with that was the unthinkable. He made sure he looked his bedroom door before he left, as if Granger couldn't get in if she wanted. By the time Draco got to the Slytherin Common Room he was relaxed, well, sort of. He was still slightly shaken by the days events. But Draco knew he would need a clear head to talk to Pansy.

Though she came off as dimwitted and slow, she was actually very intelligent and witty. Her act had been put on since the first year of school. She always told him it was better to be underestimated than overestimated, and so far that worked out for her. Pansy always managed to keep his reality in check when it began to slip. Others didn't easily notice it, but Draco and Pansy's relationship was strictly plutonic. They used the rumors and gossip to keep their reputations safe.

As he entered the common room he got stares of pity, mockery, and disdain. All in thanks to the lovely Lucius. Nothing would ever erase the opinions of the public. They would never forgive Draco for his father's mistake. Draco attempt to repent for his father demise. He did as much as he could to help the Order when the time came, but not even that was enough to help him. Not to mention it made the Slytherin's hate him.

He found Pansy sitting by the fire with a book propped up on her knees. Like most women, she was multitasking. Dust was flying everywhere as she swiftly moved the emery board back and forth. The expression on her face was impassive and bored, but Draco saw what most others did not. He saw the sparkle in her eyes that told him she was enthralled with the book. When he saw what she was reading he couldn't help but laugh. He leaned on the back of the couch as she looked up.

"What is so amusing?" She asked with her snotty attitude.

"You are reading _and_ enjoying a muggle romance novel!" He was still laughing.

She shut the book and promptly smacked him in the shoulder with it. "If you must know it's a very good book. Now what do you want?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. She nodded knowingly. "My room."

Draco followed Pansy up the stairs and into her room. She locked and silenced the room, allowing others to think what they would.

"So what's so important that you feel it necessary to interrupt my reading? Wow," she saw his face. "Who did that patch job, we both know Pomfrey just cleans? And she doesn't even do that well."

"I just had the weirdest day ever." He paused and she gave him the 'I want an explanation look'. "You can't say anything to anyone, because of you do I'll be killed two or three times over." A nod was her response as she went back to filing her nails. "Granger bandaged me up." Pansy's mouth dropped. "But that's not even the tip of the ice berg."

Draco explained what happened in the bathroom with him and Hermione. Thinking it was better if he left out the snog session part. So it was fair enough that Pansy was losing interest. It was a boring story, but he hadn't gotten to the part with Weasley yet.

"So after an hour or two in my room, minding my own business I hear this scream. I honestly thought I'd go down and see her screwing Potter." Remember he left out the part where he came down after Harry left. "What I found was a deranged Weasley strangling a bloody and bruised Granger. He beat the living shit out of her." It was at this point that Pansy's jaw dropped lower than before.

"No way!" Draco just nodded. "Wow, did she the Headmaster?"

"No. In fact after I broke it up, she fucking defended him!"

"Why did you break it up?"

"I'm an asshole, but even I know men shouldn't hit women!" She shrugged it was understandable. After years of Lucius beating Draco's mom, of course he would be against it. Plus, Draco has been trying to prove he isn't psychotic like Lucius. Ever since Lucius killed Fudge, Draco has been trying to be the next Harry Potter, it hasn't been working so far.

The whole incident happened last April. Apparently, Fudge wouldn't give Lucius what he wanted. And Lucius being the rational, loving human being he was Avada'd him. Fudge died on the spot. Lucius was apprehended and later executed by the Dementors.

Pansy wasn't the heartless bitch she played. But she played it, just like everyone else plays a role. Draco always came to her when he needed advice, and vice versa. Right now though, she wasn't sure what he wanted.

"Draco, just stay out of it."

He looked at her with a certain sadness in his eyes, "He looked so empty when I pulled him away. As if he was heartless."

"Absence of heart makes a boy, a man, a monster."

He started towards the door. "I know."

Pansy watched his retreating back. She knew he knew. He lived with a monster, and if it hadn't been for last year, he would have become a monster. But they would never be the same as last year. She also knew he was hiding something. It didn't add up. He didn't tell her everything. But she didn't ask and he didn't tell.

A/N: So those of you that did read and like this story, I'm all apologizes. I've been having some major drama, and it's kept me from my updating. I have the next chapter started and almost finished. So hopefully there is less of a wait. Once again I'm sorry.

This is basically a filler chapter, with some important details. It helped me push through some of what's going on with Draco, if you didn't like it. Once again, all apologize I hope you like the next chapter better. It'll have more Hermione and Draco scenes and fluff, and drama, and maybe a little action.


	6. Behind These Hazel Eyes

Chapter 6: Behind These Hazel Eyes

Disclaimer: Am I rich? Nope. Was I a single mom? Not that I was aware of. Am I JK? Nope. Do I own Potter & Co? No.

It had been a few weeks since the incident in the Head's Common Room. Ron had improved, well almost. Hermione looked happy, well she tried to. And as of last week Hermione and Ron were newest couple to come from Hogwarts. The entire school thought they were the cutest couple, well except to him. They always held hands; Ron always whispered sweet nothings into her making her giggle; soft kisses placed on cheeks; and smiles every time their eyes met. Everyone was fooled, but not Draco. He knew better. He saw the fakeness in her laugh, he noticed that she flinched when Ron touched her, and he alone saw how many packs of cigarettes she went through in a day. He wasn't too happy about it either.

Maybe, he was noticing things he shouldn't have. Maybe, he was caring a little bit more than he should have. No, he was definitely noticing more than he wanted too, or needed to. Then again, since last year he always cared more than he should have. The saddest part to him was that he was envious of the relationship. In fact he was pissed about it and he couldn't really figure out why. At the least thought she was keeping her promise and making sure that Ron stayed out of the commons.

Draco and Hermione hadn't really talked to each other outside of Head Duties. It was embarrassment that kept her from even looking at him, and he was just too proud to ever admit he cared. They often enough were able to patrol with one of the prefects, but Dumbledore decided the Heads' needed to get along better. So Head Boy and Head Girl had to patrol hallways together. When informed of the change Hermione merely nodded and left. Draco, on the other hand, protested and lost.

Tonight was the first day that the new orders were being carried out. At 9:30PM Draco was in the Common Room ready to go. His prefect partner, Blaise, and he always liked to start early and finish early. But he didn't expect Head Girl to fall for that, so he sat and waited. He stared into the fire. Waiting, waiting, waiting…then the clocked chimed 10 o'clock. She was late. He never knew Hermione Granger to be late. But he waited even longer. Finally, with a huff, he knocked on the girl's door. No response. Slowly, he cracked open the door, making sure there was no disagreeable activities going on. But, no he was greeted with a still silence.

"Where the hell is she?" He slammed the door and stormed out the door. "She probably lost track of time in that damned library!" He headed to the library with a quick pace and an attitude. He threw open the door startling a few stragglers left in the library. For the most part it was quite, there was a slight whisper of those trying to discuss a group project and a small sound of people flipping pages. Everyone knew they were out past curfew, but none expected the Head Boy himself to check the library. Lucky for them, Draco was feeling very generous today, "You've got 15 minutes, then back to your common room!"

It seemed the room let out a collective sigh and then went right back to work. Whispers and flipping pages filled the room again. Draco went to the back of the library that was secluded for Heads and Prefects alone. Not to his surprise, there she was sitting peacefully in some surreal bliss. He was a bit jealous when he noticed she had headphones on. He had tired for a year to get his to work, and had no luck.

Her back was to him, paying him no attention. Not that she ever really did, only when he gave her reason to. He went through all the horrible things he could do to her while her back was too him. At the same time he couldn't actually do any of it. So he settled for a light tug at her hair. She jumped out her seat dropping her books and CD player that had been sitting in her lap. She looked flushed and, almost scared.

"Merlin, I thought you were Ron!" She said slightly breathlessly.

"Do I look poor and stupid?" He said snarkily.

"You're an ass. You'll never be half the man Ron is!" She tried to defend Ron before she realized Malfoy knew. He knew all of it, so it was pointless to pretend.

"You're right I'm twice the man he is. It's not hard. Not even I hit women, Granger. But still I'm the asshole, right?"

Hermione simply growled in frustration. "What do you want anyway Malfoy?"

Draco tapped the watch on his wrist. "You're late for an important date Granger."

She started laughing at him. Who would have ever thought they would have heard Draco Malfoy quote Alice in Wonderland? Certainly not her. "I'm sorry. I guess I lost track of time."

"You just guess huh?"

"I said I was sorry." She started picking up her belongings and placing them in her bag. She was rushing and trying to hurry up.

"Granger, I have a life and you are severely fucking with my schedule. Not all of us spend our lives in the library or getting beat by their significant other." Hermione gasped loudly at the last comment and lost her temper. In one quick motion the reading book that was supposed to go in her bag went flying at Draco's face. He didn't really have time to react, and as he tried to dodge the book it hit him in the eye.

"Fuck!" He held his hand over her eye. "That was completely unnecessary."

Hermione did feel guilty about hurting him, but it was a paperback book it couldn't have hurt that much. "No it was completely necessary. What you said was unnecessary! You had no right to go there. Now come here and let me fix your eye before I get in trouble."

For some strange reason he went over to her. He listened to a mudblood, how strange. She instructed him to sit. When she glanced at for a moment then smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"You are such a drama queen! There's nothing there. You're acting as if I knocked your fucking eyeball out."

"You could have."

"But I didn't!"

"But you could have."

"Whatever I apologized. Let's go."

"No."

"No?"

"No!"

"No what?"

"We're not leaving until I get a proper apology. Because you in fact did _not_ apologize." She started putting her things in her bag again as she shook her head in aggravation.

"Well? I'm waiting."

She hitched her bag on her back and grabbed her water bottle. She looked at the water bottle for a second, and then glanced over at Draco. "Heads up." Tossing the bottle lightly to the Head Boy.

"What the hell?"

"You'll be waiting here for a while, probably forever. So that's in case you get thirsty. Have fun." He couldn't believe her. She was walking away from him. Nobody ever walked away from him. With a few long, quick steps he grabbed her and slammed her against a wall near by. There was evident fear in her eyes. Immediately he felt a small amount of guilt sweep through him. This must have been all too familiar to her.

"I said I want an apology." He growled.

"And I said no!" Defiance was in her voice. 'Why can't I stand up to Ron like this?' She thought to herself. There was fear in her eyes. As much as she wanted to fight, Hermione was scared. Malfoy knew her secret and probably knew she was scared shitless right now.

"Don't ever walk away from me when I'm talking to you. Understand?" Tears were now forming behind her hazel eyes. But she would not cry, not again. She nodded slightly and closed tight her eyes in fear of the tears falling. Draco however did not let go of her like she had hoped he would.

Draco took in every detail of her face. From the curly, brown strands of hair covering the one side her face to the light pink soft lips that her remembered well to the heavy coat of foundation underneath her eyes. That didn't sit well with Draco. The heavy amount of make-up seemed out of place on the seemingly all-natural girl that stood in front of him. He would expect it from Lavender, Parvati, hell even Pansy, but never from Hermione. Slowly he brought one the hands that was holding Hermione against the wall to her face. She looked so delicate that he was afraid to touch her in fear of shattering something so breakable.

When his finger connected with her cheek she flinched in fear and pain. Draco noted that she didn't make a sound or open her eyes. He gentle wiped away the flesh colored powder that covered her cheek and under eye. The skin underneath the make-up was a mixture of purple, blue, and yellow and it was slightly swollen. Unknowingly he had a sharp intake of breathe.

"I thought that already healed by now." Hermione's eyes remained closed. Her breathing was shallow and labored. Draco Malfoy knew way more than he should. "It's been, what, a month?" She nodded slightly. "You could have used a concealing charm or a healing charm." He said so softly it scared her.

"I did, I am. I just can only use some many before they start canceling each other out." Her eyes cracked open slightly, she was still afraid to see the look on his face. To her surprise it was soft and worried. Why? She didn't exactly know but she was comforted by the fact that he wouldn't hurt her. Hopefully.

"That bad?" She nodded. "Are they new?" She sighed and looked downward at his chest. She didn't know what to say. She was so afraid that he would tell someone and she didn't know why she was scared that someone would know. Maybe it would be a good thing. But she knew Ron would get in trouble and she didn't want that for her best friend.

"We have to patrol." She tried pushing him away hoping he would get the point that this wasn't something that she wanted to discuss. Now or ever. He didn't budge.

"Do you want me to heal you?" He said it so sincerely, like he actually cared. It made her sick.

"No. Now get off me." Fighting Hermione was back. Draco had had his look at her weakness now she was ready to fight back. The kindness that had entered his face moments ago was quickly gone and replaced with an annoyed look.

"Fine, but you might want to cover it up again. It looks hideous." She scowled at him and took her compact out. 'This is going to be a long night, 'she thought as she reapplied the cover up.

A/N: This chapter was supposed to be longer, but I felt if I put the rest of what I had planned into this chapter it would have been just too much. So I just cut off the other stuff and made it into another chapter. So needless to say I'm sorry it took me so long. A lot of stuff has been going on. I have the two other chapters written and the rest of the story planned. I actually I have several ways the story could go.

Poll: Should I involve children in this story?

Read and Review

Love,

Lady in the Blue Dress


	7. Bruised and Broken

Chapter 7: Bruised and Broken 

Disclaimer: Characters property of J.K. Rowling and anyone else that has dibs on them.

They walked around the castle in silence. No one spoke; no one glanced, neither paid attention to the other. They both knew the route like the back of their hand. After the situation in the library Hermione didn't think she could actually find a voice to speak with. Draco was annoyed at her, at himself. He let his guard down, he showed her that her cared even the slightest bit. They wondered deep in thought, silent, and annoyed. But hey, it's a routine science for these two.

After about an hour and a half of finding no rule breaking students and seeing nothing out of place the silence was broken.

"I think we can turn in for the night." Hermione looked at Draco as if he had five heads. Turning in early for Hermione was an insane idea. She would never abandon her duty like that.

"But we're not finished."

"Granger. It's 11:36 PM. I'm tired, please let's just turn around and go back to the common room." They never stopped walking the path they were going down. Hermione ignored his request and they continued walking in silence. When suddenly Hermione stopped. She grabbed Draco's arm to stop him. She put her finger to her lips in a silencing motion so he wouldn't yell. Then motioned for him to listen to the sounds coming from a room a few feet away from her. They walked over to the door and listened quietly.

Hermione made a face of disgust when she heard lip smacking and groans. Draco was smiling at the face she was making. "What, Granger, never got laid before?"

The look on her face was pure horror. "Don't talk about what you don't know." He looked at her with a hint curiosity. "Now open the door and stop them!"

"Wow. Hermione Granger doesn't want bust rule breakers. Woe is me!"

She flipped him the bird. Smirking he moved to the door and she moved closer, so close that he could feel her breath on the back of his neck. He suddenly threw open the door, with Hermione hiding her eyes behind him. "Brown? _Weasley?_"

Hermione shoved Draco aside when she heard Ron's last name. "What?" She gasped in shock at the sight before her. Ron was trying to cover a topless Lavender and retrieve his pants at the same time. All Hermione saw was red. She wasn't the least bit jealous no she was pissed. For the past four months Ron had made her life a living hell. He had put her through so much that no one knew about, and then he had the audacity to cheat on her. She lost all rhyme or reason; she lost all sense and sensibility. All she had at this moment was a hell of a lot of pent up anger that was ready to come out.

Lavender was muttering apologies and 'she didn't know's. Honestly, Hermione wasn't mad at Lavender, it was Ron's fault. All Ron's fault. "You asshole. You bastard. There are no words that I can call you that justify what you are." Her voice was calm, calm in a way that could scare anyone. She couldn't yell, she was too angry for that. She slowly moved toward him as he finished buckling his pants. "I can't even believe you. How dare you? How dare you think that you could bloody get away with this?" He tried to speak but she cut him off. "No! No apologies, no sorries, no excuses, no fucking reason!"

She removed her wand from her robes and turned to Lavender. Lavender was crying hysterically and then some when Hermione pointed her wand at her. "Go to the Gryffindor Tower. You go and you stay there and you tell no one, absolutely no one, what happened. Understand?" Lavender nodded and ran from the room, she was scared shitless of Hermione. Who wouldn't be?

When Lavender left, Draco who had been watching with a great deal of interest shut and blocked the door. Hermione turned her attention to Ron. He was trying to think of something to say, but Hermione silenced him with a spell. "For once you're the one who's going to listen. You almost killed me. You beat me with in an inch of my life and I forgave you! I fucking forgave you! Then you continued to treat me like shit and act as if I was your punching bag. Five months! I let you get away with this. I felt sorry for you! I thought it was your way of dealing Ginny's death. I defended you. I _lied_ for you. I thought you lost your mind. No! You were just some mind controlling abusive asshole looking for a good shag!"

Hermione removed the Concealing Charms she had place on herself. When Ron attempted to look away she slapped him. "Look at me! You did this."

Ron was shaking his head in shock and, maybe, remorse. He had never seen his after affects on Hermione. She always hid them well. Even though she was in a rage, Hermione held her composure, always calm and thorough. "Look at me. Look long and hard. You did this to me. The one you loved. I made excuses for you. And you destroyed me!" She slapped him again. "I was everything you told me to. I did everything you said to do." Another back hand as he tried to look away. "You fucking cheated on me. You beat me and then you cheated on me."

Her composure was lost. Hermione slapped, punch, kicked, and spit on every part of Ron she could get a hold of. All the while screaming at how much of a piece of shit he was. Tears were streaming down her face in anger and in heartbreak. She realized she lost her once best friend. Now she hated him and his every being.

Draco who would have honestly paid a great deal of money to see this particular event decided to intervene. Part of Draco knew he should just let her kill him, but that was inhuman, on his part. And remember, he's trying to redeem himself. Slowly, he walked behind Hermione and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away. She screamed like a banshee. Clawing at his hands trying to make him let her go.

"Weasley, I suggest you disappear before I decide to let her finish what you started." Ron glared at Draco, but quickly left the room. Hermione had calmed down. She was still crying and hiccupping in distress as Draco held her. He picked her up in his arms and carried her bridal style over to a chair in the back of the room. He sat down on it and placed her in his lap. Now she was regaining her breath and only hiccupping every once and a while. She rested her head on his shoulder, as she stared off into space trying to fix this mess she had gotten herself into.

"Feel better?" She snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, actually. I feel a lot better." He smiled a genuine smile.

He caressed her bruised cheek with his index finger. "Do you want me to heal it completely?"

She huffed with frustration. "I told you I already tried."

"And I'm telling you, your father wasn't a Malfoy." Draco knew what it felt like to be beaten. It hurt like a mother- well it hurt. After years of being bruised and broken so many nights, Draco started looking for ways to heal his pain. As the beatings got stronger, he found more powerful healing spells. He liked to think of himself as a professional healer without a degree.

She looked at him with sympathy. "Thank god, or what happen would have been extremely gross." He laughed.

"So is that a yes?" She nodded her permission. "It might hurt a little."

"I think I can hack it."

When Draco said the spell, Hermione gasped in pain. But it quickly subsided and she felt better than she had in a while.

"Thank you." Was whispered quietly. Hermione was feeling weird about sitting on his lap, but at the same time it was incredibly comfortable. Draco, who had been watching her, saw the confusion in her eyes. He decided to have fun with her for a little bit. And maybe make her forget Weasley.

A/N: I don't even know how long it's been since I updated. Anyway, about this chapter. I love Ron, I really do. This personality in this is just because I felt he fit the part. And now I regret killing off Ginny, cause sometimes I forget that she's no longer available and I write her into a scene and then I'm like "shit!".

If you guys read the story at all, could you please give me some kind of opinion? I really like getting reviews. They make me happy.

And, updating is going to be scarce for a bit. My mom recently had a heart attack and she needs a lot of help. So don't think I'm abandoning the story, I just have work and everything else to do.

READ AND REVIEW!

Love,

Lady in the Blue Dress


	8. A Starlit and Moonstruck Night

Chapter 8: A Starlit and Moon-stuck Night

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Ms. Rowling

Hermione stiffened as he pulled her closer. She wanted to smack him for being an insensitive prick. It would have been better if he were insulting her, calling her a mudblood, or whore even. Being hit on after being cheated on by your abusive boyfriend isn't something she wanted, it isn't something many females would want. She stood up in front of him. She smoothed out her robes, and then bent down gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"I know that wasn't what you had in mind, but I'm not on the rebound yet."

As she walked towards the door he said, "You'll let me know when you are, right?"

She shook her head and quietly walked down the dark corridor. She tried to walk as quietly as possible. Technically, she should have been back in the Commons twenty minutes ago. If she got caught, she could get in a lot of trouble. But even with that knowledge she still didn't feel up to going back to her bedroom. She stealthy made her way out to the lake. It was a warm night out tonight. Pleasant, with a light breeze.

Taking a spot by a large boulder to conceal her she sat down. She quickly removed her socks and shoes and dipped her toes into the luke warm water. Leaning back on the palms she looked up to the sky. It was starlit and moonstruck night. The epitome of beauty, if you were to ask some. Hermione stared at the sky, maybe she was hoping for answers, or maybe she was looking for questions. She didn't know what was going on anymore. She felt lost, and Hermione was not one to feel lost. She never felt lost before. Before her eyes her life was spinning out of control. Harry was mad at her because of a crush she never even spoke of; Ron was being even more of a bastard than usual; Malfoy, well no one knows what ever goes on with him; and Ginny, well she was gone leaving Hermione to deal with this all by herself.

"Ginny, where the hell are you when I need you? All these boys are off their rockers. I'm less concerned about Harry, Gin. But Merlin knows he misses you. He really does. He really did love you. I admit sometimes I was jealous. Really jealous, but you made him happy. I wouldn't have stood in the way of that. But now, I just don't know any more.

"And Ron, well, I need someone to keep him in line, Ginny. I know you said he'd be good for me, but you were wrong. So wrong. I hate him. He's horrible to me. I kept thinking that he was just having a rough time dealing with it. But this is ridiculous. You lied to me, he was an asshole. He's a selfish, self-indulgent pig." By now there were streams of tears falling freely down her face. She couldn't help it. With Ginny gone, Hermione had no one to confide in. "Ginny, I think I hate him. I really hate him. I have scars from him, everywhere. And he took the one thing that I held close to me. I thought I was helping him, I thought he needed it. Merlin, I was so stupid."

She allowed herself to fall back onto the grass surrounding her. Her feet were still in the lake. Quietly she muttered, "It's not fair. Please come back." Hermione closed her heavy eyelids, feeling as though she just needed to rest them before she made her way to the Common Room. So after though she fell asleep. Sleep usually failed her, and when it didn't it brought her dreams. Not the dreams that most teenage girl hope for. Hermione's dreams were her living nightmare's that she could never escape.

This is the dream that has been haunting her for the past 3 months. It was a vivid memory of what she did not miss. No one ever would.

Ron loved his sister, so it was obvious when she pasted he was upset. Hermione was there as much as she could be for him, as much as he would let her be. That night they were just sitting on the couch. Hermione was holding Ron close to her, hoping she was making him feel better. He hadn't spoken to anyone in days. And everyone was starting to get worried. Sure everyone was having a hard time dealing, but Ron just seemed almost worst than Mrs. Weasley.

Hermione held him in the most loving way. Wiping away the few stray tears that actually fell from the bloodshot, tired eyes that once held such beauty. Sometimes he wouldn't let her touch him though. She was confused and almost as helpless as the boy that lay in her arms. That night he did something unexpected. Quietly Ron turned to Hermione and looked her in the eye, "I love you." It was a quiet confession, but to Hermione, she could have sworn he was screaming it at her.

"I'm sorry, what? I don't think I heard you."

Ron sat up and moved her so she was looking directly at him, "I love you. I always have, I was just afraid that you wouldn't feel the same. She told me to tell you before it was too late. And now I'm scared it might be too late. Hermione, I love you."

Hermione was at a loss for words. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything." He leaned forward and captured her lips. Hermione was in too much shock to respond. When she didn't respond, he became rough and forceful. Hermione tried to push him away but let's face it she failed in size and strength compared to Ron. He pushed her down on the couch and attempted to go up her shirt.

With all her strength she pushed him, it broke his continuing action, "What are you doing?"

"I just told you I loved you, what do you think I'm doing?" She tried to sit up, but his body was still covering hers.

"Ron. I…I love you, but not like this. You're my brother, my best fri-" he cut her off.

"Don't say it, don't you dare say it." He removed himself from being on top of her. Standing in front of her, "I deserve better than that Hermione and you know it. What because I'm not as popular as Harry, I'm not a good looking, I'm not as intelligent. Fuck that, he doesn't even spare you a glance Hermione and we both know he never will."

She was crying now. She stood to face him, "That's not fair Ron. Harry's got nothing to do with any of this. I…I…I just don't love you like that."

"I could make you love me. Please, Hermione?" He slowly backed her against a wall, trapping her with his body. She tried pushing him away, but he didn't budge. He started kissing her, and nipping at her neck. She started to yell, but by sixth year Ron had learned how to use a silencing charm. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Quietly carrying her to his room, safe from anyone waking in the middle of the night.

Hermione was trying her hardest to fight. But her body was weak from the past few nights of staying up and crying. She pushed and pulled and kicked and scratched. And then he slapped her. "Stop it, love, it will only make it hurt more."

She looked at him, he had lust in his eyes. Hermione cried harder than she had ever in her life. She begged him in silence. But Ron just continued to undress her and fondle where he pleased. The more she struggled the more violent he became. He had removed her shirt and bra, and while he was teasing her nipple she attempted to throw him off. It angered him so that he almost bit her nipple off. Had she not been silenced some one would have surely heard her pain and came to her aid. But after each struggle that was met with pain, Hermione gave up hope of saving herself. She watched as Ron removed his clothes with vigor and excitement. When she could no longer stand it, she turned her head to the window and stared at the bright moon. She wished that she were anywhere but here. And as he prepared to lower himself into her, he whispered, "I will make you love me."

Hermione woke with a start. She was covered in sweat and crying hysterically. When she finally was able to calm herself she realized that she was no longer by the lake, but in the comfort of her own Common Room. She searched around and after a quick moment terrified hazel eyes met curious silver ones.

A/N: I'm sad that I had such a cliché ending. But hey it had to end somewhere. So yes, this is me demanding a review! Okay, no I'll ask nicely, please review? Please, I only got 2 last chapter and that made me kind if sad.

Okay…next chapter should be within the next week.

Jenn


	9. How Could This Happen to Me

Chapter 9: How Could This Happen to Me

Disclaimer: JK owns!

Being a caring person was never his strong suit, but for some reason he cared. When he saw her lying by the lake, he cared. He cared that she was outside, in the dead of night, by herself, unprotected. For a second he reprimanded himself, 'Malfoy's don't care. About anyone, or anything.' Instead of turning his back to her and returning to the castle, like he should have, he stayed and watched her sleep. He leaned against a tree and watched her intently, each intake of breath, each flutter of her eyelids, and the slight tremor she gained. He supposed she was getting cold. The wind was starting to pick up and the temperature was steadily dropping. After careful consideration and a quick glance about (to make sure no one was watching) he picked up her shoes, and then Hermione.

On the way back the common room Hermione started shaking violently, as if suffering from a terrible cold, or a horrid nightmare. As he walked, Draco tried to rock her gently, hoping it would somehow sooth her. But it did little to stop the tremors, and eventually she started whimpering in pain. By the time they reached the Commons Draco was spent and actually very worried. He had attempted to wake her, but he could seem to wake his beautiful dreamer. Softly, he laid her on the couch, and began searching for a blanket or a sheet or something to heat her icy skin. It took him a minute to realize he placed her _on top _of the blanket. He gently wrapped it around her making sure to cover her hands and feet, hoping it would do the trick.

Draco started a fire to warm the frosty air in the room. Then he retired to an armchair across from the couch and resigned to watching her sleep. He didn't know what it was, but he felt he could watch her for hours. She was nothing uncommon, but something made her extraordinary. He took in every breath that she breathed and every flutter of an eyelid; the rise and fall of her chest and the quiver of rosy pink lips. Draco found himself growing weary. The sounds of the clock ticking in the background, the gentle sound of her breathing, and the cracking of dying embers slowly lulled him to sleep.

Draco woke with a start at the sound of a blood-curdling scream. He quickly stood, trying to remember where he was. It took a second, but the previous nights events came to him. He groggily looked at her. Hermione was sitting up wide-eyed and breathing hard.

Hermione's mind was going a mile a minute. The dream, the reality, the sick feeling she often got thinking about it; she felt she was going to throw up. She started crying. She started rubbing her stomach and crying hysterically. She mumbled, "How could this happen to me?"

She knew Malfoy was in the room, but at the moment she really couldn't cared. Whenever she had her episodes, that's what she called them, she never really cared who or what was around her. Sometimes the memories were too much for her to take. They always come back with such a vengeance. "How could this happen to me?"

Draco sat there shocked. The only time he had ever seen tears in Hermione's eyes was the day Ron beat her. Not only that, it was 5:30 in the morning, he barely got 3 hours of sleep. He sat up and cracked his neck, unsure of what he should do or say. Maybe he should walk away like nothing happened. That would be the very smart thing to do. But the smart thing isn't always the right thing, and that was what he was trying to do, the right thing. He sat up and met her eyes again. She had calmed herself considerably and now there was the sound of hiccups present in the room. She turned her eyes away from his; the embarrassment of her episode was sinking in. 'Oh god, I need to learn how to think before I act.'

"Are you alright?" He was rubbing his temples and staring at her. Hermione couldn't bring herself to look at him. She didn't know what she could say to that, of course she wasn't okay. And even if she said she was would he believe her? Her mind was so busy scrambling itself; she failed to hear him repeat his question.

When she didn't respond for a second time Draco stood and walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her. "Earth to Granger! Anything alive in there?" He practically shouted at her.

"Malfoy, there is no need to yell when you are less then 5 feet away from me." She said indignantly.

"Could have fooled me. Are you alright, I asked you twice and I never got a response?"

She knew she couldn't lie, but she sure as hell couldn't tell him the truth. He already knew more than anyone ever should. "I've been better, but I'll be fine." She looked around the room. This wasn't where she had fallen asleep, she knew that much. "Did you bring me up here?"

He nodded.

"Oh, thank you." She said quietly.

"Granger, what happened to you? Besides the beatings, what else did he do?"

She felt her face flush, "Nothing, Malfoy. Nothing."

"Really? So tonight's out burst was over nothing?"

She stood and dropped the blanket that was wrapped around her. "Look, Malfoy, I appreciate all that you've done for me the past couple times I've had a run in with Ron. Seriously, though, you need to just forget it happened. If I can forget it, I know you can."

She started walking towards her dorm room. "Granger, you know what your doing is wrong. He deserves to be turned in. If it was me or anyone else besides Potter and Weasley you would turn them in, in a heart beat."

She stopped. "But it is, Ron."

The next few days passed with out much incident. Hermione and Draco stopped avoiding each other and began planning the Halloween feast. They talked simply about the feast, nothing else.

Hermione did however avoid Ron like the plague. Everyone knew, or thought they knew, what happened. Apparently Hermione caught Ron cheating on her and dumped him instantly. Hermione went along with it and left it alone. Harry believed it well enough. Enough so, that he didn't question Hermione staying away from both of them. Seeing as he and Cho just got together, he had little time for either Hermione or Ron. In the back of her mind, Hermione was jealous. Through it all she still had her crush on Harry and it hurt her to see him so happy with someone else, especially when she was by herself.

In order to avoid sulking and moping, Hermione threw herself into work. The Halloween feast, homework, studying for N.E.W.Ts were all she thought about. In the middle of all this, something got messed up. She and Draco were called to the Headmaster's office. Hermione was scared. Malfoy wouldn't have told anyone, he swore he wouldn't. 'Oh, Merlin! What if he did! Ron will be in so much trouble, and I'll be the girl that everyone feels unnecessarily sorry for! Oh, God! Oh, Merlin!' Hermione's head was spinning when she entered the room.

Draco was already sitting there. When she looked at him, he seemed sullen, but you couldn't really tell. He always held his emotions in check. He refused to look at her and the fear was getting worse and worse.

"Good evening, Miss Granger."

"Headmaster." She said with a nod.

"I've called you two up here to talk about some arrangements that need to be made. Hermione, Draco will be a way for the next week. He will be leaving tomorrow; I was wondering how long the plans for the Halloween feast would take? Will I need to get a temporary head boy? Or will you and the prefects handle it?"

"Oh, umm…no the plans for the feast are done. I'm sure I can handle the rest of the duties. I mean it's only a week, right?"

Headmaster nodded. "Well in that case, you are both dismissed."

Draco stood up rather abruptly and left without a word. Hermione just stared after him but never asked a question.

The next morning Hermione didn't really miss Draco's presence. But one thing she was missing was a cigarette. She ran out yesterday and the next Hogsmeade weekend wasn't for another week. Hermione thought of something, but almost died because there was no way she could actually go through with it. But by 7 am that morning the craving was too much to bear.

_Dear Malfoy,_

_I know I always yell that I don't need help, but I'm kind of in a bind right now. Seeing as you're out of school right now, and I'm locked in school right now, could you maybe please send a carton of cigarettes? I'll never ask for anything again! Please, please, please! Just let me know how much they are around you and I'll repay you. Oh, and sorry if I'm interrupting anything important._

_Hoping to get a nicotine fix, _

_Granger_

Satisfied and desperate Hermione sent the letter and then began getting ready for school. She was entering her room after a nice warm and rather refreshing shower. To find her owl perched on her windowsill. Two cartons of cigarettes and a piece of parchment were held in its talons. Hermione squealed with delight. And ran to Gerard, her owl. She quickly gave him a treat and relieved him of his parcel.

_Granger,_

_Never expected you to be so desperate as to ask yours truly for help. Consider it a gift; hope they last you until next Saturday. And by the way, your owl is vicious, he almost broke skin._

_Malfoy_

Hermione wasted not time in sending a thank you reply, but did instruct Gerard to be kind to Malfoy considering he did her a great favor. She smoked her cigarette while she got ready then ran down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

She sat herself next to Neville and Harry, Ron across from her. He was avoiding her gaze. Everyone said their greetings and began to eat.

"Holy shit!" Harry suddenly exclaimed. Hermione looked at him with confusion and then noticed the _Daily Prophet _sitting in front of him.

"What?" She asked. He handed her the paper, it was opened to the obituaries. Hermione gasped when she saw a picture of Narcissa Malfoy. The obituary read like most. "I didn't know Malfoy had siblings. And it's odd, it doesn't mention how she died." She skimmed the paper. "Were there any other articles in the paper about her?"

"Nope."

Hermione actually felt herself feeling sorry for Malfoy, she knew what it was like to lose parents. And now she felt guilty about asking for something as trivial as cigarettes when he was mourning his mother. God, she was such a horrible person.

A/N: And after this the story progresses even more. Now that I have most, if not all of my bases covered I can push the plot forward. I'm sorry it took so long to get this up. Lots of drama has been occurring and school work needs to be done. I would love a review or two, actually more would be nice.

Jenn


	10. Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 10: Dirty Little Secret

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to JK.

She sat at the desk surrounded by crumpled pieces of paper, ink pots and spills, and a many broken quills. Hermione was completely frustrated. It had been 5 days since Draco left, 4 days since Gerard came back without a reply to her note, 3 since her first attempt at a comfort letter, 2 days since she left her room, and one day full of frustration of not being able to find the words. Really, this was a lot harder than she had ever imagined.

Hermione crumpled another piece of paper and threw it behind her; she huffed loudly and then lit a cigarette. Then suddenly a piece of parchment smacked her in the back of the head. She twirled around in surprise. There was Draco with a few bags.

"If you had actually been aiming I would have said nice shot." He said quietly. "Not the best welcome home I've ever had."

She shook her head in confusion, "You weren't supposed to be back for another two days."

By now he had moved his bags next to the couch in the common room and was standing a few feet away from her. He shrugged, "I finished business early and there was no reason for me to miss an extra day."

"Oh."

"Miss me much?"

"Not really. I was quite peaceful without you here." She said it so seriously he really could take her seriously. She cracked a smile when he feigned a shocked expression. "Seriously, no one missed you pompous ass."

"Awe, that hurts me deeply." He said as he walked towards her. She shifted her weight uncomfortably as he made his way closer. "Really, I make you that uncomfortable?"

She looked at him shyly and nodded her head. He laughed lightly and took the cigarette out of her hand. He took a quick drag and then began to examine it. Hermione could not tear her eyes off the boy that stood in front of her. True, he was no longer a boy, actually far from it, but she still saw the 11 year old boy that she met on the train. She couldn't imagine him any other way.

For a second or two they stared at each other. Both dying to say something to the other, but neither having the words to say anything. Draco took another drag then handed it back to her. "Menthol and apple, not that bad."

"You could have asked."

"Could have, but didn't." He smiled and ran his hand through his hair.

"Thank you by the way. You know, for the…" She held up the cigarette and got uncommonly nervous. "What do I owe you?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." He turned away from her in order to avoid an argument.

"But-" She was interrupted by a popping sound.

"Master Malfoy!" It was Dobby, of all creatures. "Dobby has heard what has happened to Mistress Malfoy. Dobby is so sorry Master Malfoy. So sorry." Dobby ran towards Malfoy and hugged him. But what shocked Hermione even more, was Draco hugged Dobby back.

"She's all better Dobby, she's safe now. You know that."

"How is the little Malfoy Sir?" Dobby said wiping his eyes and sniffing.

"There's two little Malfoy's now. Derrick is fine though. He's getting to be -" Dobby cut him off.

"I'm sorry Master Malfoy, but they require my help in the kitchen. Call me if you need anything."

Hermione stood there shocked. She was adjusting to kind thoughtful Malfoy, but this was just a blow to mind. She tired to keep herself from sputtering and making a scene. But seriously, Malfoy just hugged a house elf! H saw her staring and he blushed.

"Jesus. First you hug a house elf and now you're blushing. Who are you and what have you done to my Malfoy?" She said jokingly.

"Your Malfoy? Since when do you own me Granger?"

She laughed, "Since I could publicly humiliate you and destroy your reputation." As she spoke she walked toward him jabbing her finger towards him to make a point, when she reached him she poked him in the chest to punctuate her point. She left her finger on his chest and smiled smugly at him. He smirked right back at her. Swiftly, he grabbed her hand and spun her around. Her arms held to her chest with his arms. Hermione was needless to say startled. Her breathe hitched and her body was froze.

"Do you really want to talk about ruining reputations? Because I know your dirty little secret and it's so much worse than mine." He whispered in her ear. She didn't know if she shuddered because of fear or because of the proximity of their bodies. She let out a short breath and then stood completely still. "Scared Granger?"

"Should I be?" After all this time she really wasn't at all scared of him, just unsure of herself around him. Hermione was unsure of his intentions, unsure of his motive, and unsure of her feelings.

She expected him to let her go, but he didn't. Instead he held her close. She didn't talk, move, and barely breathed. His breathe on the back of her neck was sending chills down her spine. He moved his arms away from hers and lightly grazed her waist. As soon as his hands made contact with her midsection she tried to jerked away and squirmed. She screamed no in terror.

He started laughing, she was ticklish. When he realized this he took full advantage. He pulled her towards him and started poking at her stomach. Hermione squealed playfully and tried to get away. He pushed against the arm rest of the couch and she fell backward. She was laughing and tried to sit up but he feel on her grabbing her waist again.

"No. Please stop." She was breathless and red in the face. Draco was straddling her hips and laughing at her. After a moment or two, the two realized their position was rather intimate. Hermione wiggled slightly beneath him, struggle with the uncomfortable weight placed upon her. Draco leaned downward. His face was inches away from hers. His hands were on either side her head supporting his weight, so he didn't crush her. Hermione closed her eyes, scared to look him in the eyes, for whatever reason, she didn't really know.

"So, did you miss me?" She opened her eyes and bit her lip. She moved a strand of hair that had been covering his eyes. His eyes, always entrancing, always captivating, but always deceiving. There was no expression in his eyes. She didn't know what to make of his question. She didn't know what to make of his actions. She lifted her head and captured his lips in a tentative kiss.

Draco got what he wanted, he always did.

A/N: This is way short. And I'm sorry for the extra long delay. I broke my computer. I busted the hard drive…again.

Okay a few notes. I want reviewers to know that I really appreciate there comments, suggestions, and encouragements. I really feel special when I get reviews it makes me feel like writing isn't a waste of time, therefore I update faster. So review.

Two: My other story is dead. People keep going there and reviewing not realizing it hasn't been updated in..2 years. I went back to read it to see if I could maybe fix it a little and start writing it again. It was so bad it made me cry.

That's it. Much love to my reviews.

Jenn


	11. Suicide Blondes

Chapter 11 - Suicide Blondes

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

It was peaceful, it was bliss, it was wrong. Very, very wrong for both parties. They both knew that fact and they both very blatantly ignored that fact. They both needed a peace of mind, even if it was from their so-called enemy. Hermione needed to learn that not all men are dicks, just Harry and Ron. Draco just needed to realize it was okay to care about something, or someone. Neither really thought of the situation like that though. It was two teenagers with very high levels of hormones and both needing a little bit of TLC.

Draco took hold of her hand hands raising them above her head and lower his body on top of hers. Gently, mind you. Being around her made him see everything more fragile like. Like she was a glass that could shatter if pressed too hard. He took in every part of her. Her scent, her feel, her taste. Running his hand down the side of her body, feeling her curves, taking in every part of her body. She jumped slightly when his hand went toward her waist. He smiled into the kiss and poked her lightly. She struggle underneath him.

Hermione broke away from the kiss, she was breathless. "The poking really isn't necessary." So of course he did it again. She jerked her hands away from where he was holding them and slapped his hand away. "Stop!"

He was laughing. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy lying together on a couch, in a very compromising position, laughing together. Yeah, it's pretty safe to say the world might as well becoming to an end. She played with his hair a bit. The color was so vivid, a suicide blonde. It was soft and not frizzy, in a way she was kind of jealous.

"Hermione?"

"Hm?"

"What's on your arm?" Hermione only looked slightly startled. She pulled her arm away from him, but he grabbed it. "I never expected this from our perfect little Hermione." He traced his finger along the deep cut that was across her wrist. She pulled away and slid out from underneath him.

"Yeah, well expect the unexpected."

"I didn't-"

"You never mean it, right? You don't think about it first! Just ignore it pretend it's not there. Is that so hard? You never cared before, so don't fucking start now!" He was blown away. He was confused. Were they not just snogging moments before, were they not just laughing moments before? His head hurt. He hadn't meant to upset her, he was just shocked that she of all people would ever cut herself, purposely.

"I didn't think you would get upset. I know you're not perfect, it was a joke. I mean not that it's not serious-"

"Shut up! You don't realize you're making it worse do you?"

"Whatever. Fine I don't care." Hermione let out a growl of annoyance. And before either one of them knew what was going on she hurled the crystal vase, that was next to her, across the room. Not at Draco, just against the wall.

"You never did, so don't pretend." And she walked out of the room. As she did she flicked her wand and all the paper balls that had been lying around flew into the fireplace.

Everyone has moments in their life that they wish they could take back. Hermione was going through it right now. She didn't mean to freak out and honestly, she could barely tell why she had. She wasn't bother by the fact that he cared, she was bothered by the fact that he noticed. Hermione wasn't a cutter, by far. She tried it once, and it wasn't for her. It was too messy for her. Too much blood, she wasn't a fan of blood.

Anyway, after she left the common room the other night, she went to the Gryffindor common room and sat with Harry and Ron. She and Ron didn't talk. She was still very, very pissed off, and rightfully so. But Harry was good at pretending like they weren't fighting. He kept the conversation as easy flowing, as it could have been. After midnight she went back to the Head's rooms and made her way to her bedroom and fell into a fitful sleep. Today she was paying for it.

She was sitting in Transfiguration trying to concentrate on the board. No suck luck. She felt guilty. All he wanted to do was, well, she didn't know what he wanted to do. She still felt guilty. She was trying to figure a way to apologize to him. But really there was nothing to be said sorry for. She was protecting herself from another relationship that could go sour. Wasn't she?

Her head was spinning. Her lack of sleep and lack of proper concentration was making her feel sick. She Asked permission to be excused. McGonagall let her go. She gathered her books, left her homework from the night before on the desk, and went to her common room. When she entered the room she threw her books on the table by the portrait and huffed loudly.

"You mind Granger, some of us like peace and quiet." She jumped not expecting him to be there.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to be there. What are you doing out of class?"

He cocked his head to the side, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"I don't feel well. I was excused from class."

"I'm having a mental breakdown and was sent out of class." Hermione snorted, so un-ladylike. "Seriously, Trelwany told me so. I was directed to go to the common room and lay down."

"And are you still having the mental breakdown?"

"I don't know? I've never had one before, I don't know how it feels." He said sarcastically. Then added, "How does it feel?"

She gasped, "Why you!" She took a pillow from the couch and smacked him with it.

"That was uncalled for!"

"Uncalled for, you just called me mental!"

He laughed at her, "Are you saying you aren't?"

He was laying across the couch and she tried to get him to move his legs, but he was being stubborn. So she sat on his legs. "I am most certainly not!"

He sat up and was now face to face with her. "Then do tell me what yesterday's little freak out was about?"

She crossed her arms to her chest defensively, "It was about me being slightly stressed and you pissing me off."

"So is that why you do it?"

"Do what?" He grabbed her wrist and held the gash up to her face. "Oh. I don't do that. I did that. It was an experiment," she said quietly. "I just thought it might feel better, I mean you know what all those people say, who actually do it."

"So did it make you _feel _better?"

"Not really. There was just a lot of blood. Made me gag actually."

He laughed at her. "You're such a girl." She took her wrist back from his grasp and used it to smack him with a pillow. "So does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?" He asked her sincerely.

"I never was. I was just frustrated and you made it easy for me to get angry at you. And don't use the word mad, it's improper grammar." He rolled his eyes. He moved out from underneath her.

"Excuse me. I actually need to go back to some of my classes. Will you be joining me in potions?"

"No actually. I'm going to rest today. You know take a nap and hopefully feel better tomorrow. Tell Snape for me?"

"Yeah sure."

"Thank you." He nodded and left.

Hermione let out a sigh of relief. It felt good to have someone one to talk to, even if it was Draco. She grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the table, laid back, and fired up. This is just what she needed. Time to breathe, time to relax, time to stop thinking. She finished her cigarette and promptly fell asleep sitting up on the couch.

Sleep had been avoiding Hermione. It was making her moody and irritable, therefore it was good that she took off and got her nap. However, that didn't last long. Not twenty minutes after she fell asleep on the couch did something wake her up. She shook the sleep from her eyes and found a woman staring at her from the fire place. The woman was talking rather quickly and Hermione couldn't really undersatnd what she was saying. The woman was very upset and hysterical, just what she needed to deal with right now. Hermione stood and walked closer to the fire place. She convinced the lady to calm down, which was probably the worse thing possible.

"Do not tell me to call down! I am taking care of the children of Satan himself." Hermione was literally lost. "Where is Mr. Malfoy? He needs to deal with this immediately, because I quit."

"He's, he's not here. He's in class. He'll be in class for another three hours."

"Well then deary, you can take them." The head disappeared and the woman came through with an infant in her arms and a child by her side.

"What? No."

"Obviously if Mr. Malfoy trust you enough to stay in his quarters then you can take care of his sibling demons!"

"But this-"

"You must very special he never lets any girl alone in his rooms." The women handed the baby to Hermione, let go of the young boy, and walked towards the hearth. "Tell Mr. Malfoy he can owl my last check." And she flooed out of the room.

Hermione stood there shocked. There was a child standing in front of her and an infant in her arms. They were Malfoy's siblings. She needed to get Malfoy, and she needed to get him now. But it wasn't like she actually could. He was in class, she would have to go find him, and she'd have to take the kids with her. She was not hauling children around the castle, especially when the one looked like it could have been hers.

She looked at the little boy. His resemblance to Draco was remarkable, sure it was expected that they looked alike, but it was shocking at how much. His eyes a steely grey, and that suicide blonde hair. He was a miniature Draco. And if she could compare him to Draco at all, he was pissed. The look on this little boys face evil. A frown and cold hard eyes.

She looked at the baby in her arms. She assumed it was a girl considering it was dressed in all pink and had bows. The baby was sleeping and gently breathing. 'How could such a little thing be considered a demon?'

"Hi, what's your name?"

"Derrick Malfoy. I was named after my great grandfather."

Hermione smiled, "Umm…what's your sister's name?"

Derrick crinkled his nose in disgust at the mentioning of his sister. "Angie. But she's just a baby, and she wasn't named after any one. She smells and cries a lot. I don't like her."

'On this is going to be a long afternoon!' Hermione thought to herself. She smiled at the boy and sat on the couch and let out a sigh.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming!

So I didn't like this chapter much, but it'll suffice I suppose. So I told you there was gonna be children, not what you expected huh? Yeah, I thought it was kind of original, I just hope the plot works the way I want it too..

3 Jenn


	12. Where Do We Go From Here

Chapter 12: Where Do We Go From Here?

Disclaimer: J.K owes…your mom….that was bad…I'm sorry.

Hermione transfigured the ashtray on the table into a cradle for the baby and laid the girl in there. Then she wiped her hands on her skirt. She was nervous and when she got nervous her palms sweated a lot. And well, Hermione never had any real experience with kids before. She was only child and well, she liked that. Derrick was glaring at her with angry eyes and she didn't know why. She rubbed her forehead willing away the pain that was creeping forward. What was she to with the boy? She didn't know how to entertain him.

"So where do we go from here?" She clapped her hands together and let out a heavy breath, "So? Umm…do you like to color?" Derrick looked at her as if she had grown two heads, but did not respond. "Do you know what coloring is?" The boy shook his head. "Right, of course you don't." She murmured to herself.

She looked about; all the children she had ever babysat were muggle. The only type of children young like Derrick were muggle, so she was going to teach him something muggle. She found some paper and markers in her room, she kept them just in case, you never know, the transfigured the paper into the dollar store coloring books, that had always been her favorite to color in. She placed them on the coffee table and patted the seat next to her for Derrick to sit in. The boy looked at her with some question. After a second of thought he sat down next to her and watched her for a second before joining her in the activities. It had been an hour of coloring and Hermione hadn't heard a peep out of either Malfoy child, she was honestly shocked. The nanny had acted as though they were monsters. She stood up to check on the little girl, Angie. The baby was sleeping quietly in the crib Hermione. Hermione sighed, this could have been so much worse than what it was. But she was less than happy about the situation. It was at least another hour before Draco would return to the common room, that if he didn't go any where else beforehand. She once again rubbed her forehead feel the pain rising to the front. This wasn't her problem and here she was taking care of it.

The next thing she knew Derrick was shyly tugging on the side of her skirt. She looked down at him. He was looking up at her with big eyes that were just pleading for something. She knelt down next to him, "What's up, dude?"

"I'm hungry. The mean lady never gave me breakfast." He said with a cute childish lisp. She smiled at him.

"Go color a little bit longer and I'll get you something to eat. Kay?" He nodded and walked back over to the table. Hermione went over to the fireplace and called Dobby. She knew that he knew Derrick and would be more than willing to assist her, and in turn Draco. Hermione called him and waited a second before he appeared to her. She smiled at him.

"Miss Hermione? What can Dobby do for you?"

"Well, I'm sort of in need of a little bit of help."

"What do you need, Miss Hermione?"

"Well, I need a lunch time snack for a young boy. And if you have it…something for a baby. You know like formula and a bottle?" She was wringing her hands nervously and hoping she could explain this if he asked why she needed it. But he never did. He gave her a short okay and a nod and left her with a pop. Hermione went back to the cradle and watched the little girl sleep. The baby let out a content sigh and Hermione smiled. She placed her hand on her stomach then rubbed it softly. She smiled sadly then went back to Derrick and his coloring.

"That looks really nice. The food should be here soon. Okay?" He smiled and nodded at her. And quietly went back to the book in front of him. Hermione thought about how cute of a kid he was. But how long was coloring going to entertain him? She didn't know how long she was going to have him and she didn't know the Pureblood games or toys. Hell, for all she knew he tortured people like her for fun at home. She shuddered at that thought. She could she Draco teaching some violent spells to his little brother to practice on girls like Hermione. She quickly washed that thought out of her head. Draco wasn't the evil bastard he once wasn't the evil bastard he once was, and Lucius wasn't around anymore.

Suddenly Dobby popped in breaking her train of thought. She graciously took the tray from him and placed it on the table. She gave him her thanks and he was off saying something about how he was needed in the kitchens again. Hermione told Derrick they had to clean up before they ate. So, together they cleaned up the mess they had made and put in all in a pile neatly in the corner of the table. She told him he'd be able to color after he was done eating. She set up a place for him to eat and once she had him settled she began reading the baby formula can. Dobby had warm water already prepared, but then gave her a couple of choices of different formulas to choose from. Hermione knew nothing about this, so she simply eeny, meany, miney, moed it. And then continued to follow the directions on the can. As if on cue, Angie started crying. Derrick groaned and mumbled something about the beast. Hermione quickly fixed the bottle and went over to the baby. She started rocking the cradle to calm the baby while she finished the milk. After a second the baby hushed and she lifted her from the crib. The baby, thankfully, happily took the milk and was content. As was Derrick. Hermione sat on the couch next to the boy and continued to feed the baby.

Not even a few moments later she heard the portrait open and turned to see Malfoy walk in the threshold. He stopped when Angie and Derrick came into his view. He stopped looked around the room. Blinked…once…twice. Then rubbed his eyes. "Granger, please tell me you are playing mind games with me and my brother and sister are not in this common room." Hermione stood to face him, Angie still in her arms.

"Malfoy, please. As if I have the time or energy to play mind games with you." He stood there with his mouth agape. He dropped his books causing Derrick and Hermione to jump. Derrick was hiding behind Hermione as if she were a shield.

"Derrick, what did you to Miss Baxter?" He said with a tinge of anger. Derrick's response was to hide his face in Hermione's skirt. Hermione smiled at how cute it was, but her smile was wiped away by a look from Draco. "Derrick, why did Miss Baxter feel it necessary to bring you back to me?"

Derrick poked his head out of the side of her Hermione, "She was mean, Draco. She was really mean. She always made me wait a really long time when I was hungry, she never let me play outside, and she never tucked me in. Please don't be mad. I just didn't like her, she was real mean lady."

Hermione felt sympathy for the boy, the lady didn't seem that kind when she dropped the children off, so Hermione believed Derrick's story and told Draco so. "Look, I know it's none of my business. But she seemed crazy when she got here."

"Did you ever think it was his behavior?"

"I did at first, but then he's been an angel for the past two and a half hours. So then I figured that it was probably her. And I really think it was. She seemed slightly crazed, but I can't possibly see how it was the kids."

"Angel? Him? Derrick? Wow. It's not going to save you kid. She was the last full time governess I could find. In a second you're going to wish Father was alive!"  
"Draco Malfoy!" He was startled by her voice. "Derrick, why don't you head up to my room and take a little nap in my room. Me and your brother are going to talk for a little bit."

"Can I take the rest of the sandwich?"

"Sure." They watched him disappear into Hermione's room and he shut the door. Hermione moved forward and handed bottle and baby to Draco. Moved him to the couch and she moved toward the bay windows with her cigarettes. She was far enough from the baby but she still put a bubble around herself. "I can't believe you threaten him with that!"

"Granger you have no idea what I was doing."

"You were scaring the daylights out of him." She lit her cigarette and took a long drag. The day was about to get little more complicated. "You couldn't feel him shaking Draco, he was scared of you."

"He should be!"

"You are insufferable! That's a shame that you want him living in fear of you! Your father would be so fucking proud of you!" She shouted the last part. She was angry at him again. And without reason, this wasn't her family. She didn't have a family. Maybe that's why she was so protective of the little boy. Draco's face paled and then turned red in anger. "That's what you wanted just then? Wasn't it? To be like your father."

Draco had put the baby in the cradle almost immediately after Hermione handed her to him. He rushed over to her slamming her against the wall. "You have no idea what you're talking about. So just stop."

"Then explain it to me and get your hands off me!" He let go of her and stepped back, but was still in close proximity of her bubble. He took his pack out only to realize it was empty. He sighed and she threw him her pack and lighter. He caught them effortlessly and nodded his thanks.

"Derrick is what you would call a trouble youth." Hermione snorted.

"Oh the irony."

He glared at her and she flashed him a smile. "He's only five and stabbed to house elves and tried light the barn on fire. In order to keep him in line, I have to threaten him. And really who's scarier than my father?"

"You apparently." He laughed. "He was seriously an angel all day. But next time I watch them, I better be getting paid as much as that nut was."

"Yeah, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know. She just came in here raving about the devil's children and how she wasn't watching them anymore. But she didn't forget to mention that you can send her, her pay check when you get a chance."

"Oh, but of course." He took a drag and looked out the window. "I guess I have to go talk to Dumbledore, huh?"

"He won't bite, and I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help." She looked at him and he looked sad, he looked tired. "I'll help if you need it. I mean, shit I owe you."

She stood behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You don't owe me anything. I told you the cigarettes were gift. You know the more you smoke the quicker I get rid of you." He said jokingly. She smacked his arm playfully. "Kidding, kidding."

"Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know where we go, but you, you go back to your own world. I'll take care of this."

She tossed her cigarette but and turned to walk away. "I'm here if you need help. I'm not the bitch they make me out to be." He smiled softly and nodded. Hermione stood next to the cradle after Scourgifying her hands and started playing with the baby.

A/N: Way long chapter for me…Oh well. I hope you like it. I know it was very little HG/DM in this. But I need Derrick and Hermione to establish a connection for later. And if you want to yell at me for none of this making much, I won't be mad, because I'm really tired and can't think straight. Whoops.

Anybody see the movie yet? I did. Dan should never where a shirt…ever.

Jenn


	13. Sympathy Can't Take That Away

Chapter 13: You're Sympathy Can't Take That Away

AN: The JK pwnz. That hurt me to type that.

Hermione held Angie for a bit before going upset stairs. Draco and her talked very little before she decided she needed to go to bed and rest after a bad day. Well, not so much a bad day, more like a stressful day. One that required apologizes and children, and reliving a past she didn't necessarily want to relive. But maybe remembering was for the best. When she opened her bedroom door she founded Derrick sprawled on her bed. It was quite adorable if you asked her.

She took her pajama's from her drawer and went into the bathroom to change her clothes. As she was changing she went through the last couple days events. She laughed at the fact that sometimes she could be so dramatic about things that really just did not matter at all. She thought about the kids mostly; sure they were stressful, but she enjoyed it. They were a pleasure. She had always wanted a brother or sister, but her parents thought one child was enough. Hermione sighed, she always wanted to be a mother, but she knew there was no chance of that ever. It made her sad inside, but there was always adoption later. She thought about holding Angie in her arms and how comforting it felt. She was taking care of a life and protecting it. What she wouldn't give to feel that later in life for a longer period.

After she was done washing her face and brushing her teeth she went back into her room. She took the plate off the bed. Carefully she removed Derrick's shoes, careful not to awake the angelic form laying before her. His hair was in his face and his breathing was soft. He looked so sweet, Hermione once again questioned why anyone would call him a devil child. She covered him softly with the quilt knowing only too well how cold the castle got at night.

When she got to the door she glanced back at the boy and smiled. It was something she would never have. She lit a fire in her fireplace and went back to the common room. She found Draco holding the baby with a cigarette in his hand. She dropped the plate on the table and smacked him in the back of the head, "What was that for?"

"Are you kidding me?" She leaned down and took Angie from his arms. "You don't smoke near a baby. Ever!" She rocked the baby gently. She shushed it and cooed softly. Whispering, "It's okay sweetheart, he means well. He just doesn't know." The baby girl giggled and reached for a lock of Hermione's hair. Angie tugged lightly and let out a quiet squeal. "No, please. Can I have that back?'

"You know she can't understand you." She was watching the interaction between the two and found it to be almost serene. Hermione was so gentle and careful with his baby sister. He knew Angie was safe with Hermione and that made him feel at peace.

"She will eventually. How will she ever learn if all you do is coo at her? She'll know gibberish and it will take her longer to learn how to talk."

"Granger, I know you were a special child. But not even you were talking at the age of one month."

"I didn't say she would. I just think goo-goo, gaa-gaa is the wrong way to speak to babies. They are people after all, no matter how small." Suddenly, Angie gave a rather sharp tug to her hair. "Ow." Gently she pried her hair from the baby's seeming death grip. "Umm…Derrick fell asleep upstairs and I didn't want to wake him. So I'm just going to sleep on the couch."

Draco looked almost offended. "You can wake him up. I'll move him to my room." He started to get up.

"Just leave him there. He's not hurting anyone. It'll be easier on everybody." Angie started crying. Hermione thought it was because she took the strand of hair away. But even when she tried to give it back the baby girl wouldn't stop crying. Then she smelt it. "Ew."

"What?"

"She went potty."

Draco's faced dropped. "What?"

Hermione laughed. "She went to the bathroom."

"In her pants?"

Hermione stared at him with a confused look, "No, she went to the ladies room." He wrinkled his noise. "You've never changed a diaper before have you?"

"We've always have had nannies to do that."

"You are about to develop a new skill. One that will actually be a of good use in the sometime near future."

This time Draco was actually offended. He didn't change diapers. Hermione was laughing at the look of disgust that was plastered on his face. She walked over to the diaper bag that the nanny had left for them. She pulled out the mat, another diaper, and wipes. Because she still had the baby in her hands she couldn't really set anything up. "Help?"

He walked around the table and she handed him the baby. He got a whiff of the toxic scent. He developed tears in his eyes. "That reeks of nothing I've ever smelt before."

Hermione shook her head as she set up the mat. Taking Angie from him she said, "Suck it up and be a man. Now watch, cause I'm only doing this once."

"Did you just insult my man hood?" He said more rhetorically than anything. She shushed him.

She changed the baby's diaper showing Draco the tiny particulars, such as making sure the diaper was in the right direction. "This is all great and everything. Can we get rid of the smelly thing? Now?"

"You can't get rid of the baby!"

"Granger, I meant the diaper."

She shook her head and laughed, "I know. I was making a joke Malfoy. You know funny ha-ha." She handed him the diaper and told him to get rid of it. She finished changing the baby and placed her in the crib. She put a bubble around the crib and lit a cigarette. Where Draco had gone she didn't know. But he was taking a long time getting rid of a diaper and she didn't understand why. She sat back on the couch and took a deep breath.

"So are all women that knowledgeable when it comes to babies or is just another 'know-it-all' trait you have?"

She shrugged, "Instinct? I don't know."

"Well, Granger, you'll be a good mom if nothing else. You'll probably drive your husband to the brink of insanity, but the kid will be well taken care of."

Hermione gave him a short, sad laugh. "Thanks Malfoy." The fact was he was wrong and for once she knew it for a fact and she didn't have to guess.

"What's wrong?" He looked at her, he was actually afraid of pissing her again.

"Mmm…nothing. Tired I guess."

"Are you sure that's it?" She laughed again.

"No, actually. I know that it's not it. But it really doesn't matter all that much." She took a long drag and then released it with a sigh.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Okay then. Can I bum a cigarette?"

She held up the pack to him. He took one, she handed him the lighter. "You know, if the baby stays you should probably quit smoking."

"If Angie stays will you quit smoking?"

"If you asked me to, I'd try."

"That's nice of you."

"I was pregnant." It was a word fart. It just came out. She didn't want to tell him, but she needed to tell someone. She had been thinking about it since Angie and Derrick arrived this morning. She thought about that she would have been able to take care of her baby like she took care of Angie, and then she could have been coloring with her child like she had with Derrick. She thought what Malfoy voiced, she would have been a good mom. She slapped her hand over her mouth and glanced at him. "I didn't mean to say it."

"But you did."

"Can I ask you to forget it?"

"You can ask, but I highly doubt I'll forget. That's something hard to ignore. It's very hard to ignore. Who's was it? What happened to it?"

She put out her cigarette and rubbed her eyes in frustration. She groaned. "Malfoy, all day all I could think about was when I was pregnant because of Angie. It's not a bad thing, but I'm sorry blurted it out. No one knows about it. And when I say no one, I mean only you. Not Harry, Ron; my mom didn't even know before she, before she passed away. So really, you need to not tell a soul."

"Was it his?"

"Does it matter?"

"Did you abort it?"

"Heavens, no!"

"Then what happened to the baby Hermione? They just don't disappear. Babies just don't go away. So something obviously happened. You just told me you were pregnant. Were as in past tense. Meaning two things: you either got rid of it or you had it? And Granger, I never saw you pregnant. So what happened to the baby Granger?" By the end of it his voice had gotten so loud it sounded like he was yelling.

She lit another cigarette and let out a huff. She looked at him with a bit of confusion and anxiety. "Why do you care so much? It wasn't yours, and it's not as if we have any type of relationship where you would be involved enough to care. So tell me Malfoy, why is it so goddamn important for you to know what happened to _my _baby?"

Malfoy stopped and he looked at her. And went back to thinking about it. He didn't know why he cared, he knew he shouldn't care, but he did. In fact, he had begun to realize he always did care in a way. He cared about Lucius's actions, he cared about his own actions, and he began to realize he cared about Hermione. Not in the 'Oh I love you so much jump into bed with me and then marry me' type of way. But ever since he saw her in such a weak position a little over a month ago, he cared. Maybe, he started caring a long time ago. He cared that she always made higher grades than him, but wasn't the kind of concern he was showing for her now. He cared because after he saw Ron Weasley beating an innocent girl that she needed someone to watch over her. She obviously needed someone to care about her. She lost her parents, and she lost her best friends.

Hermione was just as alone as he was and he began to realize this. Part of him began to feel that they could, maybe, be alone together. Then again maybe she didn't want to be alone with him. Maybe she just wanted to be alone, by herself.

Hermione got tired of waiting for an answer and started to walk away from him. "Wait." She paused but when he didn't say anything further she continued walking away. He grabbed her wrist to keep her from walking away. "What happened the last time you walked away from me?" He said in a threatening tone.

"You got hit in the face with a book." Draco paused. She was right and he hadn't really thought about it. 'Damn her.'

"I forgot about that." He said. She ripped her arm away from him.

"You would."

"Damn it, Granger. You brought it up. I was just fucking curious. Another scarlet letter to add to your chest. You know what? You're right I don't care. In fact, I don't know why I asked so, just forget it."

"You're fucking bipolar! Make up your mind. Make a choice, do you or do you not care? Because you know what I don't want your sympathy attention. I lost my parents, I lost my friends, I have a 'boyfriend'," she used finger quotes when she said the word boyfriend, "who likes to use me for a fucking punching bag, and I lost my first child. If you think I have the time to deal with your bull shit you're wrong. I have back stabbed scars all over, emotionally and physically and your sympathy can't take that away. So do me a favor and stop causing me an ulcer I don't need." She screamed at him.

He grabbed her wrist again and slammed his mouth onto hers. Hermione didn't object. They were both frustrated and if they could both get away taking it out on each other then, so be it. He pulled back.

"I lost my family, and all the respect that came along with my family, and I received children two children after it's all said and done. If you think I have time to give you sympathy, you are sadly mistaken."

AN: Those who have not procrastinated at least once in updating the first chapter can cast the first stone. All apologizes I swear. Plus I might have a really awesome idea for a one shot HG/DM. Yeah, I'm working on that. My classes have been killer and I'm waiting for my college acceptance letter. And I just got this crazy fitness teacher who think all chicks need rock hard abs. I hate him. I've been mad tired lately. Thus, the long delay.

3 Jenn


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